The Seventh National Congress was a meeting of unity, and it was precisely this unity that enabled China to achieve revolutionary victory. Today, our task is construction, which likewise calls for unity.

Our Chinese revolution has been long—spanning twenty-eight years—and during this time we traversed many tortuous and complex paths, making numerous errors in line. Ultimately, however, the crux of the matter remains one of consciousness. If the entire Party were highly conscious, such erroneous lines simply could not have been implemented. Often, it was only when these errors became glaringly obvious that they were recognized; yet even after repudiating one set of mistakes, we would soon fall into another. Nevertheless, it was precisely because of this protracted struggle that we were able to formulate a coherent political line, a military line, an organizational line, and a united front for cooperation with non-Party elements. None of these achievements could have been attained without enduring so many setbacks. As we now embark on the work of construction, we hope to avoid repeating those prolonged errors. It took an immense toll in human lives to teach us how to manage relations within the Party, between the Party and non-Party forces, and with the masses—how to follow the mass line—before we finally gained this understanding. The articles I have written could never have been produced without considerable experience in struggle. The question, then, is this: Must we continue to make such extended mistakes and suffer repeated failures as we pursue development? The answer is no. The key lies in raising our level of awareness. Over the past six years we have learned much, but there are still vast areas of science and technology that remain beyond our grasp, requiring tremendous effort. At present, our country boasts 150,000 advanced intellectuals; under the Third Five-Year Plan, this number is to be increased to 1.5 million, at which point we shall possess a substantial corps of scientists and engineers. … To avoid retracing so many winding paths, we must further reduce subjectivism and factionalism. Generally speaking, subjectivism is relatively rare among the central leadership and senior cadres; otherwise, how could the Chinese revolution have succeeded, and why did we not become isolated in our struggles? That said, subjectivist tendencies still persist—for example, when the Central Committee once circulated an experience from a certain region involving a system of sole leadership, the inadequacy of that approach was not immediately apparent. We now understand clearly that a combination of collective leadership and individual accountability is far preferable. Unity is of paramount importance to the entire Party, and this conference should serve as a gathering of unity.

The list of one hundred seventy individuals reflects the very process of the revolution’s development. For instance, workers were absent from Shanghai, Tianjin, Anshan, and Shenyang; some argued that if this were the case, could we still claim to represent the working class or adhere to Marxism-Leninism? The reality is that over twenty-two years in the base areas, this cadre came to truly master Marxism. Those who deny our proletarian character might ask: Then how could we have opposed imperialism and been engaged in building socialism? Yet Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin themselves were not workers, nor did they comprehend the specific conditions under which rural areas triumph first while urban centers follow later. Urban victories have been achieved only recently; it will take time for these new urban forces to mature, at which point our class composition will naturally shift. In memory of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.